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This would still support the specific claim that "Pirates spend more money on music than non-pirates." It would not, however, support the claim that pirates sp
by amalcon 16y ago
This would still support the specific claim that "Pirates spend more money on music than non-pirates." It would not, however, support the claim that pirates spend more money on music than they would if piracy were not available as an option. As they say, correlation does not equal causation.
- baddox 16y agoGranted, there's no scientific evidence that they wouldn't spend more if piracy weren't an option, but from personal (anecdotal) evidence as well as common sense, I think it's likely the case. Being exposed to more music seems like it would lead to more music sales.
- chc 16y agoDeductive proof is not the goal of everything. There is not proof of causation, but it is the strongest inference. Without evidence to the contrary, it seems reasonable.
- amalcon 16y agoWithout evidence to the contrary, it also seems reasonable to relate declining movie ticket sales with increasing piracy. I think we all know what's wrong with doing that. The right way to run this sort of experiment would be to track how much music someone buys for a while, then give them a mildly inconvenient all-access pass to iTunes or something (a la Rhapsody) and see what changes.